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'Oli Utsavam' (Festival of Light) was organised by
the South Indian Cinematographers Association (SICA). The
event started with an invocation song by Kalyani Menon, ace
cinematographer Rajiv Menon's mother, who contributed a sum
of lakh rupees one lakh to SICA.
 The
music director duo of Sabesh - Murali took over for a series
of songs, which set the tone for the rest of the evening.
Then came Dhamu and in the five minutes that he was given,
he revealed how the art of mimicry was done. He then proceeded
to give the audience a 'patriotic performance', which was also interactive.
He provided the sound effects of Indian jets and attack helicopters
bombing Pakistani terrorist camps with the audience having to respond
with 'Bharata Mata Ki Jai', every time a bomb found
its target.
Pop King Karunas rendered a pop rendition of the most translated
piece of literature after the Bible - The Thirukkural,
which met with a rousing reception. After him came SPB,
whose arrival on stage itself was greeted with a thunderous
applause and he started with the song Malare and then
dedicated his next one to the man who introduced him - K Balachander.
It was time to turn nostalgic as one listened to the haunting melody
and lyrics of Kaisa Hai Yeh Anjaam...
 In
between the singing and dancing, actors Vijay, Arjun, Vikram
and Arun addressed the audience and sang a few lines
of songs from their films. Vikram stole the limelight
with a wonderful rendition of a moving song from his latest hit
'Kasi'.
The stage was then taken over by the glamour queen who is ruling
the roost at Kollywood these days - Mumtaz. She set
the stage on fire with Rabba Rabba from the film Aks. Time
for some reflection and who better than Parthiban to inspire
some thought provoking stuff with his brilliantly executed skit
'Silai' (Statue). He portrayed the love a statue had
for a young girl and in trying to save her from an impending disaster
in the form of a marriage to a wastrel destroys itself.
 Even
as Raju Sundaram was performing to a mix of hits choreographed
around a storyline of two lovers being united, there was commotion
all round, as Hrithik Roshan arrived a good three hours
after the show had started. The reason was his being mobbed by college
girls at the hotel where he was staying. No one would have expected
him to create the kind of sensation that one saw in this bastion
of the South Indian film industry. Girls screamed 'I love
you Hrithik' and autograph hunters tried to break the security cordon
even as he was escorted backstage. After Raju Sundaram's performance
he took centre stage and bowled the audience over with just three
words 'Vanakkam Tamil Rasigargale'. He said
them without a trace of an accent and then went on to eulogise the
cinematographer for whom the whole show was being organised.
Even as he was going off the stage he was dragged back by four girls
and gave a cameo performance to Kaho Na Pyar Hai...
 There
were a host of other performances by Pooja Batra, Devayani, Jyothika,
Surya and Chilambarasan. Kala's Kalalaya and
Swingers were the dance groups who choreographed the songs.
On the occasion Vijaykanth, President of the South Indian
Artists Association (SIAA) unveiled the official website of
Tamil filmdom www.tamilstars.com.
Those who stayed back were rewarded with another sizzling number
Malai Malai... by Mumtaz. The event finally
drew to a close with a song specially composed for cinematographers
by music maestro Illayaraja, the lyrics were written by Mehta.
Brooke Bond 3 Roses was the main sponsor of the event, which
took three months to organise and was a fundraiser to help retired
cameramen. Proceeds from the event along with other contributions
would be put in fixed deposits and the interest would be distributed
as pensionery benefits among retired cameramen revealed Sundaram,
the President of SICA.
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